Abrasevic Youth Cultural Center

I wrote about my time in Abrasevic, for the volunteer organization (Brethren Volunteer Service) that supported me during my time there:

One thing that I learned in Abrasevic is how important urban public spaces are; they are a room of one’s own for cities. It’s essential for Mostar to have an Abrasevic. It’s essential for every city to have neutral open spaces that allow people to interact. In Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”, Marko Polo tells Kublai Khan stories of a hundred fantastical cities, only to reveal that– “all cities to me are Venice”. After three years of walking the same streets over and over, mapping the city, filming it, writing in it, discussing it endlessly– “all cities are Mostar, and must necessarily contain an Abrasevic”. When I move to new places, I search for an Abrasevic. Of course I can never find another Abrasevic, so irreplaceable and unique, but I translate the values which made Abras so dear to me (solidarity, creativity, espresso) into other contexts.